In OK, Where No Democrat Has Polled Above 41% For Senate Since 1990, Rice Leads Inhofe By 2% - TNR

[hatrack]

Andrew Rice is an unlikely candidate to represent Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate. A 35-year-old Democrat elected to the state senate in 2006, he favors abortion rights and civil unions, despite running in one of the most socially conservative states in the country. He is up against two-and-a-third-term Republican incumbent James Inhofe, in a state with a 44-year history of voting for Republican presidents, and where no Democratic opponent has climbed above 41 percent since 1990. Inhofe's campaign has already out-raised Rice by more than two to one.

So, why does a recent poll show that, upon hearing of Rice and his campaign platform, Oklahomans favor him over Inhofe by 43-41 percent? Rice is one of a number of Democratic candidates who are using the environment as a wedge issue, making gains in staunchly Republican districts by capitalizing on the growing practical and moral concerns about climate changes in rural communities across the country. Green issues are shaping up to be a key ingredient in the Democrats' strategy to turn disaffection with President George W. Bush's GOP into expansive down-ticket victories this November.


Rice has put environmental issues at the heart of his campaign. On the trail, he emphasizes his efforts in the Oklahoma legislature to convert the state's vehicle fleet to clean-burning fuel and to require public schools to reduce their energy consumption. Rice is hoping his larger agenda of alternative fuel initiatives, which include better harnessing the state's vast natural gas resources, will appeal to a wide range of voters. "There is a segment of Oklahoma's population that is willing to swing to the other side for the first time in 20 years," Rice says.


Rice could not have found a better foe in Inhofe, who is most famous for blocking environmental reforms and for saying that "global warming is the second-largest hoax ever played on the American people, after the separation of church and state." While serving on the Senate's Committee on Environment and Public Works, Inhofe distributed a list of "over 400 prominent scientists"questioning "the so-called 'consensus' on man-made global warming." (Many of the experts turned out to be television weathermen, economists, or people associated with fossil fuel industries.) While there are other reasons for Inhofe's drop in popularity--particularly his mishandling of the state's devastating ice storm last year--environmental issues have surprisingly risen to the top of many Oklahoma voters' agendas. According to a TVPoll survey taken in February, 86 percent of likely Oklahoma voters believe that the state and federal government must take a strong hand in tackling environmental issues--and so they're taking a second look at the Republican Party's hard-line stance on environmental issues. In the same poll, almost two-thirds of likely voters disagreed with Inhofe's position on climate change, and a higher percentage believed that the Democratic Party was better positioned to handle environmental issues than the GOP.

EDIT

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=15543463-51c5-4549-a26d-1823b4ee2c14

[phantom power]

1. It's shaping up to be a "throw-the-bums-out" kind of election year.

[dbackjon]

2. Next pay check, sending money to Rice

Inhofe is one of the worst senators around.

[Shoelace]

3. me too & I'm from Oregon, I'm listening to an interview now from his website

he's very intelligent, knowledgeable and Please Gods, let him beat Inhofe!!
He's short of money compared to Inhofe who has all the Koch Oil folks behind him. We DUers need to send Rice some $$ and make this happen.

This is well worth listening to:

http://www.andrewforoklahoma.com/newsroom_details.asp?id=1068

[Caution]

4. It's unlikely to happen but man would it be great to toss out Inhofe. That man has personally

caused more damage to the environment with his denial of climate science than just about any other single person in the world.

[Chulanowa]

5. Strong strategy

Play up the impact the environment has on the farm states. Stress the connections the repubs have with Monsanto and the petro-fertilizer companies that are screwing these states relentlessly. Farmers - even "big" farmers - are environmentalists at heart. The trick is putting the perspective close to home.

[diane in sf]

6. Inhofe is another piece of Repug garbage it would be a pleasure to remove.

Think I'll send some money to Rice.

[sazemisery]

7. I'm from Oklahoma and..

here is what Inhofe faces:

Democrat
Andrew Rice Oklahoma City
Jim Rogers Midwest City

Republican
Dennis Lopez Thackerville
Evelyn L. Rogers Tulsa
Jim Inhofe Oklahoma City
Ted Ryals Oklahoma City

Independent
Stephen P. Wallace Tulsa

Andrew Rice is my candidate and I hope Inhofe is defeated in the primary. I am not knowledgeable about any of the Republican candidates. Rice would be a real asset for my state.